writing a hardware lock
-
hey, i'm writing a hardware lock for my new tailor made software, my approch is, For every DML i'll check for the existance of hardware lock, for this i'll query the hardware to send me some GUID, comapre this GUID with one from software side, if it matches then continue else stop (the hardware for this will be designed according requirments given) now questions :-> Should i use serial port or usb ? (in terms of processing time) use a function to generate this GUID ?(well i will surely do tht, but whts the general practice/ algorithm) will this ID be machine dependent? becoz what i want is one installation CD with one hardware lock which can work on any machine? give me an idea, as i'm thinking tht it wont be as simple as wht i'm thinking :) regards, logicaldna
Chase your dreams ! http://eminencetech.net[^]
-
hey, i'm writing a hardware lock for my new tailor made software, my approch is, For every DML i'll check for the existance of hardware lock, for this i'll query the hardware to send me some GUID, comapre this GUID with one from software side, if it matches then continue else stop (the hardware for this will be designed according requirments given) now questions :-> Should i use serial port or usb ? (in terms of processing time) use a function to generate this GUID ?(well i will surely do tht, but whts the general practice/ algorithm) will this ID be machine dependent? becoz what i want is one installation CD with one hardware lock which can work on any machine? give me an idea, as i'm thinking tht it wont be as simple as wht i'm thinking :) regards, logicaldna
Chase your dreams ! http://eminencetech.net[^]
I will answer the hardware part only: it has to be USB, since a modern PC (desktop or laptop) has 2, 4, 6 or more USB ports and often 0 serial ports. furthermore, if I need several hardware locks, its much easier to add USB ports (using a USB hub), than it is to add serial ports. and lastly you can easily have USB ports at a distance, such as the USB ports found on many desktop monitors. The performance issue AFAIK is irrelevant since an app will typically check the hardware lock only once (at startup), or a couple of times (when saving something), certainly not all the time. BTW there are companies such as WIBU[^] that sell USB hardware locks; they are organized in such a way that they can hold a number of keys plus a couple KB of app data; so a new software can be linked to either an existing key or a new, empty key, and that is how it should be. And of course, companies that offer hardware keys also have the necessary software to support them, including an API to integrate it in the app itself. To sum it up, whatever your software product is going to be, if it comes with a serial port hardware lock I wont buy it. If it works with a USB key, it better be from a trusted hardware source and able to combine with other protected packages... So I dont see the point in reinventing stuff that exists and performs well. :)
Luc Pattyn [My Articles] [Forum Guidelines]
-
I will answer the hardware part only: it has to be USB, since a modern PC (desktop or laptop) has 2, 4, 6 or more USB ports and often 0 serial ports. furthermore, if I need several hardware locks, its much easier to add USB ports (using a USB hub), than it is to add serial ports. and lastly you can easily have USB ports at a distance, such as the USB ports found on many desktop monitors. The performance issue AFAIK is irrelevant since an app will typically check the hardware lock only once (at startup), or a couple of times (when saving something), certainly not all the time. BTW there are companies such as WIBU[^] that sell USB hardware locks; they are organized in such a way that they can hold a number of keys plus a couple KB of app data; so a new software can be linked to either an existing key or a new, empty key, and that is how it should be. And of course, companies that offer hardware keys also have the necessary software to support them, including an API to integrate it in the app itself. To sum it up, whatever your software product is going to be, if it comes with a serial port hardware lock I wont buy it. If it works with a USB key, it better be from a trusted hardware source and able to combine with other protected packages... So I dont see the point in reinventing stuff that exists and performs well. :)
Luc Pattyn [My Articles] [Forum Guidelines]
Luc Pattyn wrote:
So I dont see the point in reinventing stuff that exists and performs well.
cost !:) i have resources which will give me the hardware and i can write software, if i do it neatly,then i have something to sell :-> you won't belive, but i might have to install software on machines where they dont have USB port so now i'm thinking of putting a switch as it should work on both (serial and USB) thanks anyways ! regards, logicaldna
Chase your dreams ! http://eminencetech.net[^]